


EAD 2018

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Blue Bloods (TV), Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, Other, Platonic Kissing, Smut, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 00:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13693380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: My series of unrelated teases of stories I have started as my offering for Evil Author Day. I make no guarantees that any of these will be finished this year. Enjoy!





	1. The Monster

Watching his friend relax under his hands, Dave took note of how Aaron’s eyes were half shut and unfocused. Whatever he was thinking about, it wasn’t right here. His eyes moved from his face to the flesh of Aaron’s back. There were scars here, though nowhere near as prominent as on his front. White lines that he bet at one time had been angry red, welts from a belt that had broken the skin in places. There was a jagged looking one along his shoulder blade, clearly from something else. A broken bottle if Dave had to guess. Rubbing, he could almost imagine feeling the spots on his ribs where Aaron had told him over the years about a fracture here or there.

Adjusting on the bed, Dave carried on at his task until he was satisfied, stepping away only long enough to rinse his hands before massaging Aaron’s scalp. This made the younger man make a soft noise deep in his throat which made Dave smile. He figured Reid could probably tell him about how the response was due to all of the nerves and things, but Dave rather liked the idea that Aaron simply enjoyed the intimate touch.

Aaron was almost asleep when Dave nudged him silently to roll over. When those hands touched where the waist of his boxers crossed his hips, he lifted up, allowing them to be pulled off. He hadn’t needed to come to Dave for this in years, not since his early days with the team, but tonight… Tonight he knew he couldn’t fight anymore, he knew he had to just give in and let his friend take over. When he felt Dave’s fingers ghost over his newest scars, he blushed. “I look like Frankenstein’s Monster.” He whispered, barely audible.

Dave’s brows went up. It hurt him that his friend saw himself as a monster, feared and hated, found to be repulsive and disgusting even by the very person who created him… Dave stopped himself and wondered how long in his life Aaron had felt a connection with the fictional creature. Sinking back on his heels, he stared down at the prone form before him and wondered. He remembered reading the book in school, it had been required reading for him. There had been a description though of the monster, he let himself think, recalling with unease at how much of it could be applied to the man before him if someone’s mind was looking for it. Ugly, shunned any time he tried to make contact; with his parents, his brother…even his wife. Tears filled his eyes. “Aaron.” His voice broke, chin trembling.

Aaron’s eyes opened, hearing the waver in Dave’s voice. He was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong?” He tried to sit up.

Dave shook his head. “Nothing, I’m fine. You’re are not a monster.” He tried to control his breathing. “And you are not all of those other things you think about yourself. You are loved and are worth loving.”

It was reflex, shaking his head no. “I-” There were lips on his before he could continue, hands on his shoulders, pushing him back into the pillows. He couldn’t let himself believe after all these years that anyone would want _him_. Even Haley had only wanted the status, and the money, it was something he’d always known about her. He’d known it the day he’d mentioned going to law school after graduation and the way her eyes had lit up. It was hard to think about her now, as a hand was cupping his cheek, dry lips separating as a tongue licked against the seam of his own. The last time they had done anything like this, he’d been barely in the BAU six months and a case had gone terribly wrong.

Dave pulled back, brushing Aaron’s hair with his fingers. “I need you to know you are loved, that you are important. Not just for what you can do for me or give me, but you are important as a human being.” He broke off as something inside him squeezed. “I need to show you.” He sat up, tracing those scars again. “These don’t make you a monster, they tell the world that you are _stronger_ than the monsters.” His hands traced down until they were on his hips. “You are beautiful and wonderful and so many people love you.” One hand traced along Aaron’s soft cock. “You have been the best thing in my life for a very long time, Aaron.”


	2. Come To Me

Pressing kisses on the skin he could reach, Aaron shifted to hover over her, his cock teasing against her pajama shorts. One hand worked its way under her shirt until he was massaging her breast. Ducking down, Aaron pushed her shirt up so he could latch onto the nipple, sucking at it as his hips carried on their own slow rhythm. He knew it wasn’t going to take him long, so he pushed down her bottoms enough to get his hand in, feeling her legs shift further apart, welcoming his fingers into her dampening core. Adjusting his balance, Aaron began to press against her clit, watching as she started to move beneath him. “Haley.” He spoke, hoping she would wake enough to draw him in. He watched her eyes flutter open.

“Fill me.” The words were little more than a barely audible whisper, but they made Aaron’s dick twitch eagerly, precome already leaking out.

Scooting back, Aaron pulled her shorts the rest of the way off, adjusting again to have the best angle. Stretching his legs out, he frowned when something caught around his foot. He tried to shake it off, but whatever it was wouldn’t free him. Leaning back, Aaron continued to tease his cock with one hand while fishing around under the covers for the offending item. Pulling whatever is was out, Aaron held it up and froze as he realized it was a pair of men’s underwear that were most definitely not his. “Haley?” He asked, voice firmer.

Haley opened her eyes. “Oh.”

“Oh?” His voice rose. “Oh?”

She shrugged. “Ethan must have forgotten them.”

He felt sick now. He _knew_ she’d been having an affair, but to see the proof so blatantly in his bed, to hear the other man’s name on his wife’s lips. _His wife._ Crawling off the bed, Aaron turned to her, throwing the underwear in the place he’d just left. His erection was flagging as his anger grew. “How could you?! In our bed?” He could feel the storm building in his system.

She watched his face turn hard, eyes dark with anger. “It’s not like you’re ever home. Maybe if you were home more, I wouldn’t have to find someone else.”

“What?!” Was she really blaming him for her infidelity?

“You heard me.” With a wave of her hand, Haley righted her clothes and rolled over on her side, pulling the covers back into place, clearly done with the conversation.

Her dismissal of the conversation just angered him more. Stalking to the bed, he grabbed her shoulder, rolling her back onto her back. Before he could speak, she spoke.

“Now what?” She was sneering now. “Going to resort to what you know? What your father taught you about how to show your feelings? Going to act like all those degenerates you surround yourself with?”

He could feel the rage pulsing within him. It would be so easy to meet her word for word, verbal blow for blow. And then too easy to meet a verbal blow with a physical one and that thought truly terrified him. Still angry, Aaron yanked open dresser drawers as he threw on the first things he could find.

“Where are you going now?!” Haley snapped.

“Out!” He yanked open the bedroom door, getting a tiny amount of satisfaction out of it slamming against the wall. Without another word, he stalked to his car and pulled away from their home. He knew he couldn’t go back until he’d calmed down.

==

Aaron had first aimed his car onto the back roads of Virginia, taking the roads and turns at speeds that weren’t really safe. He needed _something_ to help bleed off the anger and driving like a teenaged boy sometimes helped with that. After over an hour, he found himself headed down a road he knew for it’s blind curves and pressed the gas pedal down harder. The first one wasn’t too bad but the next was a S-curve that had him crossing the center line to avoid ending up on the shoulders. Urging the car faster still, he knew what was coming next, a sharp nearly ninety degree turn. Going into the curve at well above the posted limit, Aaron relied on all of his FBI evasive driving training to not lose complete control. Bright headlights filled the windshield as a semi heading directly for him made Aaron pull the wheel hard to the right, overcompensating for his wide turn by pulling the vehicle onto the shoulder covered with loose gravel. The wheels of his car kicked the gravel up as it tried to find some traction, sliding and lurching until he hit the grass beyond. Bringing the car to a stop, Aaron panted as the adrenaline wore off. That had been close, too close really, he didn’t really have any plans to cause a wreck.

Shoving the gear stick into park, he slammed his hands against the wheel. He was still angry. Angry at himself for letting things get this far, angry at Haley for cheating, angry at this Ethan for daring step into _his_ house and sleep with _his_ wife! Getting out of the car, he slammed the door shut and began to pace in the darkness. How had his life gotten so far off course? He had no idea what to do, he couldn’t go back home, there was no way the night wouldn’t end in more fighting between he and Haley. Finally climbing back in the car, Aaron guided it back onto the road at a much more acceptable speed before letting muscle memory drive him to the nearest place he knew.

==

Shuffled out of his bedroom, Dave cursed whomever was in his house at such an ungodly hour of the morning. Thumping down the stairs, he flipped on the light in the main room, glaring around in search of the disruption to his sleep. Hearing the sounds of someone in his bar, Dave turned to his right and headed into the next room, already talking before his located his intruder. “Breaking in at this hour just to drink my liquor? There better be a damned good reason for… Aaron?”

Glaring over the glass, Aaron tossed back the scotch and slammed the empty glass back down before pouring more in. “His name is Ethan.” He bit out, lifting the glass again to his lips.

“Who?” In all the years he’d known Aaron, Dave could count on one hand the times he’d seen his friend properly smashed. It looked like tonight was going to add to that number.

“Haley’s boyfriend.” He smiled, but the smile sent something uncomfortable slithering down Dave’s spine.

“And how did you find that out?”

Another glass of scotch gone, another filled. “When I found his underwear in my bed while trying to have sex with my wife.”

He had no idea where to start, so he kept quiet and found himself a glass, pouring too much for the hour of morning before placing it on an end table. If Aaron was going to finish off the bottle, he wanted to have at least a little bit. “Oh.”

“Oh? Oh?! Is all anyone is going to say about this is Oh?!” He was nearly shouting now. “She didn’t even try to make excuses for what she’d done!”


	3. Gonna Miss This

Chloe kicked her scuffed sneakers against the bottom of the dash, arms folded across her chest. “You just don’t get it, Mom! I just wanted to be unique!”

Her mother reached across the SUV and patted the leg of Chloe’s paint-covered jeans. “I do get it, Sweetie. But you should have asked before dying your hair green. I know you feel like you’re growing up, but you’re still a kid, Kiddo.”

Chloe eyed her mother, wondering how she had any clue what it was like to want to be unique. Her mom worked a boring nine to five job at some boring tech company. The most exciting thing she’d ever seen her wear was a light purple blouse with her very traditional black pencil skirt. Looking her mom over, Chloe took in her very clean-cut, shoulder-length blonde hair, her boring black-framed glasses, and her barely-there make-up. “You can’t get it at all. Your whole life is about fitting in.”

When they got to the school, she put the car in park. Chloe’s mom turned in her seat to face her daughter. “Chloe… This time, being a kid, it goes by so fast. You need to enjoy it, don’t try to grow up too soon because once you’re an adult you can’t ever go back. I _do_ know. I tried for a really long time to put it off.” She looked over her fourteen-year-old daughter. “Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

She sighed. “Maybe you need to know some stuff about your ol’ mom that you never knew before.” She glanced up at the school and then back to the girl. “Tell you what, how would you like to play hooky today?”

“Really?” Chloe lit up.

“Yeah!” She laughed when her daughter nodded vigorously, putting the vehicle in gear and pulling away. “I have some calls to make and then we’ll do something today.”

==

Chloe followed her mom into the small restaurant, only just starting to get busy for lunch. She wasn’t sure who they were meeting, her mom wouldn’t say, but as they entered, a man with light brown hair stood, smiling at them.

“Hey, Aunt Pen.” The man greeted, offering his hand, which her mom bypassed, wrapping him in a giant hug. Chloe was surprised, her mom was never big on overt displays of affection in public. “Can’t breathe.” He chuckled as he fake wheezed.

She pulled away. “How are you, Jack?”

He motioned for them to sit before sitting himself, brushing his tie smooth as he did so. “I’m good.”

“You look so much like your dad now, especially with the suit, Sweetie. The job treating you well?”

“Yes, long hours, you know, but I love it.”

“That’s good, doing what you love. And your dad? How is he?”

Jack’s smile fell. “I try to go up there a few times a week. The doctors think he’s leveled off, but I don’t know. Last time I was there, he thought I was Sean for the first hour. You should go see him, I bet he’d love to see you.”

“I’ve been afraid to. Is that horrible?”

He shook his head. “No. I understand.”

Chloe finally spoke up. “Mom, who’s this?”

Penelope turned to her daughter. “This, Sweetie, is Jack Hotchner. He’s a doctor.”

“A doctor?”

She nodded. “I’ve known Jack since before he was even a little bundle in his parents’ arms. I used to work with his dad.”

She turned to Jack. “Your dad is an analyst too?”

His smile faltered. “No. He was an FBI agent.” His eyes met Penelope’s. “She doesn’t know?”

“I never found a good time to tell her before. But today…”

He nodded. “Dad tried to keep it all from me too.” He reached into the empty chair and pulled out a box. “That explains asking me to bring this then.” He placed it in the middle of the table.

Penelope pulled the lid off, lifting a photo off the top. “We all always wished you didn’t know as much as you always did.”

“I know.”

“Know what? If he was an FBI agent, how did you work with him?”

She sighed. “Honey, before the job I have now… I was an analyst for the FBI. Specifically, I worked for Jack’s dad.”

“With.” Jack corrected.

Penelope rolled her eyes. “You sound like him too.”

He smiled.

Flipping through pictures, Penelope passed one to her daughter. “This was the team.”

Chloe took the print and stared at it. It was a group of people, four of them were sitting on a small couch with another two on the arms, leaning in, draped over the people beside them. The last one was lying across their laps and everyone had giant grins on their faces. Chloe squinted at the person dressed in bright colors. “Is… Is that you, Mom?”

“Yep.”

“Why are you dressed all weird? Everyone else is in like black and stuff.”

Jack laughed at that. “Aunt Pen always dressed like that. Dad said she was their quirky guiding star bringing them home after a case.”

“Really?” She was having a hard time reconciling her boring, by the book mom with the woman in he picture. “Who are these other people?”


	4. Grounding

He wasn’t sure what had bothered him, but something about the case was filling him a sense of unease. Hotch could feel his team’s eyes following his every move, the attention was stifling. He tugged on the knot of his tie again, wishing he could just pull it off and get rid of the strangling feeling. Collecting a file on one of their suspects, he walked the room, pacing back and forth as he reviewed the information. It wasn’t until Reid was walking with him, chattering on about some random type of bird that was local to the area, that he started to suspect the others were sensing his unease. Reid wasn’t exactly known for being the first to pick up on body language, but he was the one most likely to hover until someone gave in.

Dropping the file onto the table, Hotch turned and gave Reid his full attention, the action halting the younger man’s speech.

“I- I…” Reid is suddenly unsure about the best course of action or if he’s really the right man for the job. “Let’s take a walk?”

Hotch tugged at his tie again as he felt the walls close in a bit more. “Sure.” The single word sounded strained and thin.

Neither spoke until they were outside and then it was Reid who made the odd request. “Name five things you can see.”

“What?” It was an odd request.

“You… you were exhibiting signs of…” Reid looked everywhere but his boss. “Ever since… You’ve been…”

“Reid, just spit it out.” Hotch ordered, trying to keep any sharpness out of his voice.

“You show classic signs of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” He spoke quickly. “You’ve started having small panic attacks, but they’re starting to get worse in how they affect you as well as starting to occur more frequently.”

Hotch was stunned and looked around, taking even breaths. “A bench.” He made sure to make his breathing slow down as his eyes latched onto something. “A white picket fence, A black BMW…” He could feel the buzzing feeling in his mind ease up. “A hedge of roses roughly three feet high and six feet long.” They were trained to focus on details. “Six steps up to the building with chipped red paint on them.” When he saw Reid smirk to himself, he gave him a questioning look.

“Overachiever.”

He looked around and realized that everything felt more normal now. It was as if all of the stuff around him had somehow shrank back down to the size it was meant to be without him even realizing it’d grown. “I- I didn’t realize… I’m sorry.”

Reid stayed close until Hotch finally began to move back toward the building. “Uh, Hotch?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not something you need to hide. Especially from us.”


	5. Buried Deep

Carrying on, he trudged through the streets, the wind had turned biting cold and he wasn’t properly dressed for it, only wearing a suit and nothing more. Shivering as he felt his face begin to chap, Aaron wondered exactly what was going on. Why was he all alone? The sound of laughter made him stop and turn, staring up at a brick building. The happy sound was coming from inside and, tired of the chill, he let himself in to follow.

The first floor was empty, like construction hadn’t begun yet leaving just a shell. Along the back wall was a staircase and Aaron took it up, hoping to find the person laughing. It was driving him crazy, he could hear the footsteps again, walking on the wood floor and the smell of coffee wafted through as he made it to the top, the laughter louder here. The second floor wasn’t complete and there was a railing about halfway across the expanse. Against the railing was a curvy shadow, a shadow he recognized, leaning back. “Penelope.” He spoke, and he saw the shadow stop and turn. Closing the distance, she was still in shadow. Raising his hand to greet her as he was nearly close enough to touch, Aaron was horrified to see his glock in his hand, pointed now right at her chest.

“No..” He breathed, trying to pull away. His hand tensed, finger tightening on the trigger. The rapport of the gun echoed, vibrating the air in the empty building, he opened his eyes and the shadow was gone, the rail broken. Lurching forward, Aaron stared down, panicked, at the still form of his friend, broken and bleeding on the cement below. “No!”


	6. Guilt

“Dad!” Jack clambered excitedly into the car. “Guess what?”

“What?” Aaron smiled at his son.

“I have to do a science project and if I’m good enough, I get to be in the school’s science fair!”

“Oh, really?” He pulled away from the school.

“Yes! I was thinking about what I want to do. I could make a big solar system that all moves around just like the planets or I could turn on lights using potatoes, or I could shoot off rockets or I could….”

“Jack!” Aaron laughed. “We’ll look for ideas when we get home, okay?”

“Okay.”

“But those sound really good. I’ve never done them, so maybe we’ll learn something together, huh? You could end up knowing more than your old dad?”

Jack shrugged. “Do you think we could call Spencer and ask him to help?”

Aaron nearly drove off the road at his son’s question. They’d been out of protection for over a year, but he still hadn’t reached out to any of his former friends, time making him more and more reluctant. “I don’t know, he still works and might be really busy.”

“But Dad.” Jack stuck his bottom lip out.

He didn’t want to admit he was afraid to contact anyone, afraid of how they would react after all that happened. Drawing in a deep breath, he sighed. “Okay, tell you what. We’ll look into some ideas tonight and if we can’t find anything we really like, we’ll call.”

“Fine.”

It turned out that Jack was pretty determined to not like any idea Aaron found either in books or online. By the time he went to bed, Aaron was beginning to accept that he was going to have to make a phone call he didn’t really want to make. Crawling into bed, he tried to work out in his mind just what he would say.


	7. As A Family

Emily stood in the bathroom doorway and stared into the dimly lit room at the form of Hotch, asleep in one of the beds. It was Thursday again, marking another week gone since Spencer’s life was nearly snuffed out. Five weeks. She’s been in the States a month already, half of the time she’d originally negotiated off was gone and Spencer was still in the hospital. Lifting her brush, she resumed running it through her hair as she thought. If Spencer wasn’t moved closer to home by the time her leave was up, she was already formulating her request to stay for longer. When the body on the bed began to shift as it woke, she ducked back into the bathroom to finish. A minute later, Aaron was in the doorway, squinting against the harsh lights.

“I didn’t hear you get up.”

“I tried to be quiet.” Making sure everything was off and unplugged, she stepped out, letting him have the room while she finished dressing. When he came back into the room and sat down, she turned to him. “How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

She sighed. “Aaron…”

“What do you want me to say? That it kills me to see him lying there every day? To be watching, hour by hour for a sign that he’s in there. That he’s going to be okay. He was my responsibility to protect!”

“He’s an adult.” She kept her voice even despite his raising.

“He was still my…!” He trailed off. “I won’t ever hear his voice again… No more little spouts of information… No more listening to him tell stories or create experiments…” His eyes filled with tears. “He’s gone. Even though he’s still here…he’s gone…”

“No.” Emily shook her head. “He’s still in there, probably trying to find a way out. This is Spence we’re talking about, he doesn’t give up anything without a fight. Ever. He’s still alive because he _wants_ to be alive.”

Aaron nodded. “That sounds like him.”

“Let’s get breakfast and we’ll go see what the doctors have to say today. Okay? Then we’ll sit and talk to him, let him know how things are going.”

“Yeah.”

==

The news from the doctor was better than they had expected. “Based on how Spencer’s been doing, if he keeps it up and tolerates his therapies still, we can start talking next week about moving him to a facility closer to home.”

“A facility?” Hotch frowned. “What sort of facility?”

“A rehabilitation place, similar set-up to a hospital, doctors, surgical suites, anything he might need, but with a heavy focus on streamlining his therapies and eventually teaching family to care for him. Their ultimate goal is to work out if returning home is an option and with what supportive care.”

“Wow.” Aaron rubbed a hand over his face. “I’d honestly thought it would never happen. The hope had started hurting too much.”

“I understand.”

“But… You really think he’s doing well?”

“I do. There has been no sign of further infection. The swelling is totally gone now and hasn’t returned, his skull is healing nicely since the last surgery. His shunt looks good. I know his first week was rough, but the past month has gone how we like to see it.”

“Who will his doctor be there?’

“I’ll get you the details. I’ve sent a few patients to this facility in the past and I’m really happy with the care they give. He’ll still get regular brain scans but he’ll also get to make use of their extensive therapy rooms and they have water therapy too.” The doctor glanced to his patient. “We’re already seeing signs of his muscles tightening; the water and other therapies will help with that.”

Aaron nodded. “Thank you, really. You’ve done so much. We honestly thought he’d… I didn’t know something like this was survivable.”

“Often it’s not. I think he managed a series of very lucky coincidences that allowed for him to make it.” He shook Aaron’s hand when Hotch offered it. “I’m happy to do what I can.”

“Thank you.” Hotch repeated. Once the doctor had left, he turned to Emily. “He could get to come home.”

==

The week that followed was full of tests and assessments before Spencer could travel. The doctors and transport teams wanted to make extra sure that he wouldn’t take a turn while being moved. Once everyone had signed off on the transfer, Emily and Aaron headed to the hotel to pack.

“It’s really happening.”

“Yes.” He couldn’t seem to lose the smile on his face today. “We’re going home. All of us. I haven’t told the team yet, I didn’t want to get their hopes up until it was real, you know? But the moment he’s loaded up, I’m going to call them. They’ll be so surprised.”

“How have they been holding up?”

“Morgan’s stepped up while I’ve been on leave. They’ve brought in three temp agents though two of them will probably stay on anyway. I’d never gotten around to replacing you and now I’ll have to replace Spencer…” He didn’t really want to think about that yet.

“There’s no replacing Spencer.”

“I know.” He nodded. “I have considered resigning. Once we know how things are going with him… I’ll have to have a plan in place just in case.”

“I have three more weeks here.” She finished shoving her things into her bag. “I’ll keep helping in any way I can. It’ll be nice to see Jack for more than a day at a time though.”

“Yeah.” It’d been hard, dropping in on Jack and then having to leave again, but now he’d be able to be home for him every afternoon. “That part will be nice.”

She straightened up, shrugging the bag onto her shoulder. “Ready?”

“I think so.”

==

The drive back to DC had felt like it had taken longer than it should have. Emily could see how antsy Hotch was getting, but she knew there was little to do to calm him until they saw Spencer securely in his new room. Deciding a distraction might help for a few minutes, she dialed her phone and put it on speaker.

“Hey, Emily.” JJ’s voice greeted them.

“Hey. Hotch is with me, we’re on our way back to Virginia.”

“You are? Did something happen?”


	8. 100 AU

Watching the small body lying on the floor, he turned to the boy’s mother. “He’ll die soon enough.” He took two steps toward her as she backed away. “Now, don’t run. If I get a clean shot, you won’t even realize you’re dying, you’ll just be dead.” When he managed to grab her by one arm, George dragged her back to the middle of the living room and stood so she could see her dying son. “Mommy has to go now.” Pressing the gun to her back he pulled the trigger.

==

Aaron rushed into his former house and scanned the first room. There were smears of blood on the walls and floors. On the table by the door, he spotted his gun, the one he’d left behind so Haley could protect herself. Grabbing it, he began to sweep every room. The playroom and the finger-painted pictures on the walls were smeared with read streaks, the kitchen cabinets and counters were marked as well. It had been twenty minutes since the line had gone dead and he was living the nightmare he’d had for years.

Turning and walking up the stairs, he tried his best to avoid the pools of blood on each step. Peeking around the corner, Aaron could just see into the master bedroom. He could see a pair of blood spattered feet on the far side of the bed. Desperately trying to catch his breath and shove down the panicked urge to run to them, Aaron instead resumed his search for Foyet. There was no way the man would cause this kind of chaos and then flee, this was his final stand. Pulling himself away, Aaron searched through Jack’s room, the one room so far that seemed to have been saved from the gore, and then checked the hall bathroom before his office. He’d almost considered the room cleared until a niggling started in the back of his mind. Holding his breath, Aaron aimed his gun at the wood bench beside the desk and slowly eased the lip open with his free hand. Wedged inside was Jack’s body. He almost lifted the boy out, but a sound of something softly moving on the wood floor in the closet made him spin around, landing a well placed shot to the head of the monster who has stolen his family

Adrenaline rapidly draining, Aaron couldn’t pull himself away until he heard the sounds of what he assumed was the rest of the team pulling up outside. Dropping his gun on the desk, Aaron was spurred into motion and rushed to the room where the remains of his family lay. Once glance at Haley and he knew, there was no way she was alive, the damage was too great. Kneeling beside where she lay, Aaron pulled her to his chest and began to cry. He hadn’t been able to protect them and now, because of him, they were dead.

==

The team rushed through the open front door, guns raised, and stopped. If this had been the scene their boss and friend had walked in on, in his own home, it had to have driven the man mad. Someone had deliberately spread blood all over what they could see of the house. Silently waving to Morgan, Dave headed to clear the first floor with JJ while Morgan and Emily headed up the stairs.

Creeping up the carpeted steps, Morgan couldn’t help but stare at the bloody shoe-prints, if he had to guess based on experience, he would say they were a size twelve and a half. Reaching the top of the stairs, he stopped when he could hear sobbing. Splitting up, Morgan followed the sound while Emily cleared the rest of the upstairs. In the doorway to the bedroom, he found Hotch on the floor, soaked in blood, rocking the remains of his ex-wife. He didn’t move from his place in the opening until Emily stepped up beside him.

“Found Foyet. And Jack.” She whispered to him. “In the office. Jack in a storage chest and Foyet in the floor of the closet, one to the head. Hotch’s gun was on the desk still.”

Morgan nodded. “We’re going to need everyone up here. He’s still with Haley, not even sure he’s seen Jack yet.”

A look of horror crossed her face. “Oh god.” She waited as Morgan stepped back and softly spoke over the coms for everyone to come up and help. A minute later, Hotch was up and heading for his son, scooping the boy out and holding him close, fresh tears pouring out. Once he was done, they both finally entered the room and flanked their friend. Tugging him back, Emily’s eyes ran over all of them, the sight of blood making a trail down Hotch’s side making her panic. “Hotch, you’re hurt!”

“No… He never touched me. This is all from them.”

“Then where’s this blood coming from. You’re bleeding.” Pulling him away from the corpse, she and Morgan began to look Hotch over.

Not finding a source of the bleeding, Morgan reached out and touched Jack for the first time. “Jack’s still warm.”

“I- I’ve been holding him. He’s been wrapped up.” Aaron watched, frozen, as the other man began to search over his son.

“There’s a pulse!” Morgan turned toward the top of the stairs. “We need a medic! Call a medic!” He lifted Jack’s tiny body onto the floor and began to press against his wounds with blankets Emily had dragged out of the hall closet. “He’s got a pulse! He’s not dead!”

Dave rushed into the room, followed by JJ who was shouting that the EMT’s were on their way. He looked from the pair now working on the boy to his friend, who was hunched on the floor, eyes unfocused. There was no way Hotch was in any condition to ride to the hospital and make decisions right now. Turning to the pair, he gave them orders. “You stay with Jack. Call Garcia and get her to get ahold of Haley’s sister to meet you at the hospital. I’ll handle him and keeping the scene secure until forensics arrives.”

==

Two anger-filled hours later, Dave finally followed a fuming, but mostly presentable, Hotch into the hospital and up to the pediatrics floor. They found the rest of the team already present along with Haley’s sister, Jessica, who was not pleased to see her ex-brother-in-law.

“You got them killed!” She ran up to him as he entered the waiting room. “I can’t believe you! After everything else, you got them killed!” Raising her fists, she connected with his chest over and over. “You said you’d protect them!” When hands restrained her and pulled her back, she tried to fight, but she was no match for the strength of the team. “If he lives, I’m going to fight you for custody!” Shaking free, she stormed out.

Hotch watched her leave until a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning to Morgan, he spoke. “I need to see Jack.”

“A nurse was just out, so far surgery is going okay. It looks like he only took one bullet, but it did a lot of damage. They were still working on getting it out of him.”

“They bullet’s still in him?” He paled. “Jack has a bullet inside him.”

Morgan increased his grip. “Hey. He’s still alive.” He guided his boss to a chair. “He’s strong, just like you and Haley, he’ll pull through.”

It took until late into the night before Aaron had the chance to see Jack, sedated to aid recovery, again.

“There’s tons of swelling, we had to remove parts of his intestine and his spine is affected.” The doctor spoke. “Right now, the machines are still doing everything for him and until he’s able to maintain those functions on his own, he’ll remain attached to them.” He sighed. “There needs to be some serious thought put into just how long we wait and see if he’ll wake up. Given the amount of trauma, there is a chance he may not.”

Aaron stared at his son without saying a word.

Dave stepped forward. “Thank you. We’ll consider everything in time.”

The doctor nodded and stepped out.

Crossing the room, Dave squeezed Aaron’s shoulder. “He’s alive still.”

“Barely. Because of me.” He sniffled. “I- I think I heard him get shot… Right as the line disconnected, there was a gunshot and Haley screamed.”

Dave nodded. “Her wound…she would have died instantly.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think… Do you think he’ll remember?”

“Remember?”

“Being shot. Being carried up and stuffed in that chest by a monster. Do you think he’ll have that imprinted in his mind forever?”

“I can’t answer that. I don’t know.”


	9. Starved

Garcia rushed into her office early in the morning, just as she had done every morning since that god-awful day, and immediately checked her computers for any results of her searches. She had alerts on Hotch’s bank accounts, his social security number, his passport, and anything related to his name nationwide. She also had an alert out for the team’s code phrase. Every morning had been the same, no signals letting them know Hotch’s location. Every morning until this one. She sank into her chair as the computers booted up and was nearly speechless with surprise when her system instantly began to flash and beep.

An ad had been run in an online newspaper. The ad itself looked like confused ramblings that most people would ignore, but to Penelope, it might as well have been a sign from the heavens. Rushing out of her office, she ran as fast as her towering heels would let her through the building until she found Rossi just getting settled in his office. “The movie was eviler twin!”

“What?” His head snapped up, eyes focused on her.

She was grinning so wide that her cheeks hurt. “The movie was eviler twin!”

“Where?” Dave lurched out of his seat to follower her. “Are you sure?”

“It’s a small online local paper somewhere.” They both started jogging back to her office. “It set off my alarms this morning.” Back in her office, she set to work. “It’s a small-town paper in Maine.” She pulled up a map. “North of the state park.” She tapped and brought up the whole page, so they could read the simple ad in it’s entirety. _The movie was eviler twin. 73642864_

Dave’s eyes tracked over it again and again. “Print this out, make copies. The rest of the team should be here any minute, we’ll all go over it together.”

“Should we try to call the number?”

“Not yet.” Once he had a hard copy in his hand, he frowned. “I’m not sure but I don’t think this is a phone number. There’s too many digits.”

“A location?”

“Not enough digits. Let’s get this in front of Reid.”

“Okay.”

As soon as Dave had shared the news, the whole team had descended on the single clue and began to try and work it out.

Garcia apologized more than once that the location was simply too broad for her to get a better idea of who might have taken Hotch or to where.

Spencer had been standing at the white board for an hour, silently doing what he did best, when he started to add letters beneath each number. The rest of the team watched as he then began to erase letters.

“What is it?” Emily finally asked.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with numbers at all.” He finally stepped back. “Look.”

JJ shook her head. “It’s a bunch of letters now instead of numbers.”

“No.” Spencer rewrote the letters in the opposite order as they all gasped. “It literally says Hotchner.” He turned to Garcia. “Can you see if there are any other ads with numbers that don’t make sense?”

“Yeah, sure.” She began to type away, pulling up the whole paper. “There’s an odd one in the personals. WWM4M/F.”

Dave’s brows pulled together. “What?”

Garcia smirked. “Widowed white male for male or female.”

“Kinky.” Morgan commented.

“Well, that’s all the letters, the rest are numbers and it’s definitely not a phone number either.” She brought it up on the screen and Spencer instantly began to write them on the board.

“Assuming the first one is a cipher of sorts, that means these numbers match to the same series of letters and it should only take a minute to work out the words.” Everyone silently watched as he crossed things out and circled letters until he had the best guess as to the message. “Tom Jones. Twenty ac, cabin off grid.” He turned. “I’m guessing this part means twenty acres.”

“Tom Jones could be a fake name.” Morgan pointed out.

“But it’s all we’ve got to go on.” Dave answered. “Garcia? We need the closest point you can get us to the area this paper covers and the all large pieces of property in the area. Finding a cabin that’s off the grid won’t be easy, but once we’re up there, someone might know something.”

==

It turned out that the local news page had a very real store front, or perhaps counter front, inside a small convenience store. Morgan put on the charm with the middle-aged woman there and she was more than happy to describe the thin, quiet man who’d placed both ads. She’d seen him around for a week or so, always with another man, though it had been the first time she’d ever heard him speak.

“I think they live somewhere outside town.” She leaned in close to Morgan. “He seemed painfully shy and never talked and I couldn’t work out why, such a handsome man as him. Too thin, even under all those sweaters, and he had a hard time keeping focused.”

“A hard time?”

“He’d seem really determined to say something, but halfway would kind of drift out. Yesterday, the man who usually helps him had stepped next door to the bank. They’d had a talk out on the sidewalk and he’d been left on his own to wander a bit, I guess the other man figured he wouldn’t wander too far. It’s been so cold, the man you’re asking about came in here. The messages he asked to post were just gibberish, but he had a wad of cash in his pocket and he seemed to get upset when I tried to refuse him. I didn’t know if his caretaker knew he was doing it, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything. And it wasn’t a lot of money, so I figured if it was a problem, I could just pay them back out of my own pocket.” She frowned now. “Why, exactly, if the FBI looking for him? I can’t imagine that man being involved in anything.”

“Did he say anything else other than to place the ads?”

“Say? Oh, no. He didn’t talk at all, he had a note to place the ad. He clearly could understand me, so he wasn’t deaf or anything, but he never talked proper. His face was a bit…off, you understand? Perhaps some sort of deformity? Anytime he answered a question I had, he wrote it down. The ads were all written out too on a bit of paper.”

“I don’t suppose he left the paper behind?” Morgan was hopeful.

“You know, he did.” The woman crossed the room and picked up a small sheet of paper off the desk in the corner. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He looked down at his boss’s tight script. “I don’t suppose you have any cameras?”

She laughed. “No, darling. Not me. The bank does though next door and the coffee shop over the road.”

“Thank you.” Derek headed back to where the rest of the team had gathered. “Her description doesn’t sound much like him unless he’s been injured and starved, but this is a damn good clue.” He held up the paper. “She described him as very thin and having trouble concentrating. She also said he didn’t or couldn’t talk due to some deformity or injury.”

JJ gasped slightly. “Did she have cameras?”

“No, but the bank and café do.”

“Then let’s check there next.” Rossi instructed. “Our unsub could have taken measures to make it so Hotch was in no condition to fight back. Morgan, you and JJ head to the bank, the rest of us will cover the coffee shop and then we’ll go from there.”


	10. And Three Became

Everyone on the team knows now about Emily and Spencer anyway, so no one is surprised when the pair grab for the key to the king, and to be fair, it’s not like the team has any plans to sleep, but brows go up slightly when the pair grab Hotch on their way upstairs.

The remaining four watch them go and them shrug before heading up themselves, Penelope claiming Morgan while leaving JJ to blush at Rossi.

It’s the last time any of the team physically sees Hotch for twenty-six hours as he vanishes almost immediately after dropping him things to the field office and the event command center. Every once in a while there’s a phone call from him with a request for one or the other of them, but Aaron spends his day out of the field.

Morgan and Reid are out helping patrols when he finally stumbles back into the hotel and finds Emily alone sitting on the bed reading a book. He’s somehow surprised that she’s not with JJ or someone else and it must show on his face because she smiles as the book makes its way to the side table.

“You look beat. Come here.” She pats the mattress.

He sheds everything extra and obeys because after being up for over a day and a half, his brain is more than ready to let someone else make the decisions.

==

By the time Spencer strolled in later, is was to the sight of Aaron spread out on his back, eyes closed and body totally relaxed, as Emily massaged him. The room was silent save for their quiet breathing and the only thing remotely interesting about the scene was that both participants were completely naked, and Aaron’s cock was standing out like a flagpole in the center of the bed. He made himself known and shed his clothes, opting for a brief shower to wash away the grime of the day before crawling up Aaron’s other side.

Feeling the movement, Aaron’s eyes fluttered open and he slowly found Spencer’s, offering him a sleepy smile. When the younger man leaned in, closing the distance, and pulled him into a kiss, he sighed. He was completely relaxed into the bed and after the stress of his day, it felt good to be cared for and whatever else it was they were giving him. He didn’t dare call it love. When a hand wrapped around his cock and stroked, his eyes fluttered shut again as he moaned.

“Would you do something for me?” Emily’s head was beside his on the pillow now, he could feel her hair against his cheek as he nodded. “Would you let Spence ride you?”

Aaron froze, his breathing caught in his chest. Swallowing hard, he looked between then, stopping on Spencer. “Is- is that what you want?”

He blushed behind damp curls. “Em and I have talked about it and…fantasized about it. If you’re interested, I’d love to?”

He turned to her next. “And what about you? You can’t be left out.”

Emily sat up again, carding her fingers through his short hair. “I’ll find myself a place.”

“Okay.” Aaron nodded, finally exhaling. Sex between he and Spencer was relatively rare, the pair more often enjoyed a varied amount of mutual masturbation or fondling while getting Emily off. He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the first time the younger man sank down onto him. He watched, offering a steadying hand on his hips, as Spencer straddled him and added extra lube to his cock before Emily held his shaft still. And then the pressure. At first his head met resistance, but after a moment, the muscles gave way and his prick was being surrounded by the tightest wet heat he’d ever experienced. The moment Spencer was fully seated, Aaron began to tremble with the energy of holding back his climax. “Oh, I’m going to come.” He panted, trying to hold off. “Shit, I’ve never come too soon before.” Hands were on his cheeks.

“Shh.” Emily pressed a kiss to his forehead. “There’s no such thing as too soon here.”

Spencer lifted and began to ride his dick in earnest, his own member bouncing between them. Quickly, he felt Aaron’s cock swell and begin to pulse within him and rode him out until Aaron was done. Pulling off, he pressed a kiss to the older man’s lips before catching Emily and pulling her close, settling on top of here where she was still curled into Aaron’s side. As he plunged into her depths, he felt Aaron roll over, embracing them both as Spencer worked them both to their own climaxes.

==

Somehow, lady luck worked her magic and the next time the trio happened to all be in the room at the same time was just as the ball was about to drop. This time they couldn’t blame it on the champagne. Or. They could, but it would have been a lie. The champagne was of the non-alcoholic variety, they were on the clock after all, but it was perhaps the magic of the night that made them change how they did things. Ringing in the new year as physically close as three people could be at one time.

Emily was on her back, propped against the headboard by as many pillows as they could find. Spencer was buried inside her and despite their coaxing of Aaron to take him from behind, his own thick cock was rocking between Spencer’s thighs, head pressing between the younger man’s own cock and Emily’s core. It was as close as she’d ever come to being fucked by two men at one time.


	11. Virgin

Aaron rushed into the house right as the grandfather clock in the living room declared it six o’clock. “Haley? I know I’m running late, I’m sorry.” He dropped his briefcase by the door and hurried through the small house in search of his wife. “There you are.” He found her in the kitchen and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “The only good news though is that Jameson was still on the phone with a judge when I left, and he still has to stop by home and pick up his wife.”

She patted his cheek. “Run clean up then.” She watched him rush to the bedroom to do just that. Aaron had landed a job right out of college with the prosecutor’s office and things had been going well. Haley quickly gained a reputation for throwing wonderful dinner parties and it made Aaron quite popular around the office. Pulling the last dish out of the oven, she shed her apron and followed her husband into the bedroom. “How was work today?”

“Okay. Busy.” He retied his tie so that it hung straight again. “How was your day?”

She shrugged. “Good. I had coffee with Dan.”

“Oh?” He turned around to face her directly instead of in the mirror. Dan was a man Haley had met once they had gotten settled in their new house and Aaron liked him well enough. As far as Haley has shared, the pair hadn’t taken that final step yet, but they did talk fairly often.

“He broke things off. He had some concerns about this. Us.”

Crossing the room, he squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I know you liked him. Listen, if you’re not up for dinner tonight, I can call and reschedule it.” His eyes were full of worry and he looked her over.

“No, the food’s done. We’ll do this and this weekend we can deal with Dan.”

“If you’re sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, Aaron’s boss and his wife stepped through the door and the younger couple stepped right into their comfortable routine as a sweet, newly married couple. They always had everyone fooled.

Until David Rossi.

==

The first time Aaron met the legendary agent, he was walking a crime scene. They’d exchanged professional pleasantries and little more before trying to work on the many dead ends their case ran them into. Eventually, however, the case ran cold and he heard that Rossi was headed back to D.C. and didn’t think much of it until the man himself appeared at the edge of Aaron’s desk and invited him out for a drink.

That evening, the two men were seated in a bar close to Aaron’s apartment.

“So.” Dave started. “Tell me a bit about yourself.”

Aaron shrugged. “Not much to tell.”

“I don’t know about that.” Dave mused. “How about I tell you what I do know already. Huh? Virginian born and raised, one brother, father passed away.” He let his eyes run over the younger man. “You were taught proper southern manners and it shows through it how you interact with everyone. You have a reputation already of not destroying others in the pursuit of your own ambitions, and it’s well known that you have ambitions that extend beyond Seattle. Perhaps landing you in the Hoover Building itself?”

Aaron ducked his head. “You’re good.”

“Ah.” He shrugged, waving off the compliment. “Half guessing, half reading your file. What surprised me about you though, is your natural ability to read people, to profile. You were making connections on this case before anyone else could catch up to you. You’re more than just good, you have a talent.”

Aaron frowned. “Thank you.”

“I invited you out to make a pitch. We’re expanding the unit, making a team. Of profilers. Agents who study behavior and work to get ahead of these guys before they can cause more damage. Now, there’d be some travel involved, but we’re hoping to make a nice group.”

“We?”

“Agent Jason Gideon.” He saw Aaron’s brows rise. “You’ve heard of him.”

“Yes.” He began to twist the ring on his finger. “I’d need to talk to my wife. We just got really settled out here, I’m not sure how she’d feel about uprooting again.”

Dropping cash on the table, Dave stood. “Well, let’s go talk to her then.”

“Now?” He swore his oice didn’t just squeak.

A brow rose. “You know of a better time?”

==

Aaron gave Haley a heads up as David followed him the short distance to their house. He didn’t know if she had other plans for the evening.

Dave watched as he entered their home, how the young blonde woman greeted her husband a tad too enthusiastically and too affectionately. He caught the small touches she willingly dusted over Aaron and how Aaron seemed hesitant to return them. Like he wasn’t sure where to touch.

The whole evening, as he explained to Haley his invitation for Aaron to return to Virginia and work within the BAU, Dave observed them together, something niggling at the back of his mind.


	12. Crossover

Aaron stood in front of an empty room at five-thirty in the morning, over an hour before the conference was to start, and wondered when he’d started to be so reluctant to stand in front of a group alone. His thumb played with the remote that would change the slides as he reviewed the full color print out, with notes in the margins, that Garcia had given him. The notes made him smile, they were almost entirely irrelevant to the speech, things like ‘look up!’ and ‘imagine the people at the first table naked!’. The mental image of her bright, giggling grin as she would say something like that made him smile. He figured that was the purpose.

Movement in the room made him glance up just as a blonde woman walked between the tables.

“Nervous?” She asked, softly.

Aaron shook himself, he hadn’t realized he’d been openly staring. She was tall, about the height of the women he worked with, and she wore heels, but not for the height. Unless, like the women he worked with, she was used to working around taller men. Her hair was pulled up and she was wearing a conservative suit but he wasn’t about to believe for a minute she was simply someone’s secretary, he could see it in her gaze. When he caught her blushing and ducking her head, he realized he hadn’t responded. “Ah, sorry. Yeah, maybe. I was just thinking I’ve gotten used to having some or all of my team around to help with these things. I had hoped at least my technical analyst would be able to come, but…” He trailed off.

“ _Your_ technical analyst?” One manicured brow arched as she challenged the possessiveness of the statement.

He’d referred to Penelope that way before, in her presence, so he shrugged. “Until she tells me otherwise.” He watched her grin. “She was kind enough to print my slides out for me and leave me notes.” He lifted the narrow binder off the lectern. After a previous presentation where Aaron had nervously played with the edges of the pages and sent them all cascading over the stage mid-sentence, Garcia had insisted from then on out that he must use a binder. “I was just reviewing her notes so nothing catches me too off guard.”

The blonde had walked up to the stage and was looking up at him now. “What sort of notes could take you by surprise?”

He chuckled. “You would be surprised.” He passed the binder to her and watched her read.

“Save the Furries?... The Force is with you?...” She flipped the pages. “They are your captive audience, Bwa ha ha…” She grinned. “Remember that case where you did that thing? Yeah, don’t do that.” She looked back up at him now. “She sounds…different.”

Aaron accepted his binder back. “Very.”

He started to speak again, but her phone rang. “Excuse me.” Aaron watched as she connected the call and walked out of the hall. He had no idea who she was, but he really wanted to find out.

==

His mind had never quite gotten back to task after the woman had left him. Aaron played the way she looked, the way she smiled, over and over until the room began to fill and it was time for him to step on stage. It was then that he realized he’d forgotten to step out for breakfast or even a cup of coffee. Boy, Garcia was never going to let him travel alone again once she found out.

Three slides in, Hotch got to the one where Penelope had written to imagine the first table naked. His eyes almost reflexively went to the table mentioned and he instantly lost his train of thought. There were three men at the table, not that he saw them, and then _her._ The hesitation was only for a second, only the length of a breath, but for Aaron it seemed to last an eternity. She was here, in the room, listening raptly to what he was saying.

And he had to find out who she was.


	13. 5+1

The system was a mess. She could see why her new boss wanted someone to handle all of the tech stuff for his team.

She’d spent the first day trying to acclimate to the existing set-up before huffing in frustration and taking everything apart. Having lost track of time hunched under the desks rearranging cords and computers, Penelope was surprised when the smell of pizza suddenly filled her office. “Hello?” She sat upright, banging her head on the underside of the desk. “Ow! Shit!” A deep chuckle made her peer out, curious. She was shocked to the familiar suit of her boss. Feeling a bit snarky from the sore spots on her head and her ego, she snipped. “Didn’t know you knew how to laugh.”

His face fell. “I’m not that bad.”

She cocked a brow in response.

Hotch knelt down, placing the hot box on a chair. “Shouldn’t you be wearing a hazmat suit to be under there?”

“Probably. If I’m going to work here, I need it set up the way I like it.”

“Sounds reasonable.” He shifted and sat on the floor. “I haven’t seen you leave this room in hours. I brought you dinner.”

“You can’t see this room from your office.”

He blushed. “True. But I’ve been checking on you.” He distracted himself by opening the box and pulling out a slice of veggie pizza.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to make sure you’re settling in okay. If you need anything, ever, you let me know, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.”


	14. Reggie

Looking around at the frustrated faces of the team, Hotch made a decision. “Garcia?”

“Yes, Sir?” Her head popped up from behind a row of three laptops.

“Come with me.” Without elaborating further, he turned on his heel and strode out, listening to the sounds of the analyst rushing behind him.

Once they were in the SUV and driving, she finally asked. “Where are we going, Sir?”

“To find something decent to eat to take back.” He glanced at her and then sighed, letting himself deflate. “I fear this case is not going to find a good resolution. There just isn’t enough information to work with.”

“I understand.” Penelope played with the strap of her bag. “If it helps, you can bounce things off me. I know I’m not a profiler, but sometimes talking it out… It helps, ya know?”

He nodded. “Maybe after a bite to eat.”

“Sure.”

Waiting on their order ten minutes later, Aaron and Penelope were sitting at a small table talking quietly about Jack, her hand over his arm as she leaned in, when a voice spoke behind them.

“As I live and breathe! Aaron Hotchner!”

Turning to follow the voice, Garcia felt the arm under her palm startle and tense as a moment later, Hotch stood to greet the man.

“Reggie. It’s good to see you.” He shook the man’s hand.

Dark eyes trailed over Aaron and then down to the woman at the table. “And who is this then?”

“Reggie, my friend, Penelope Garcia. Garcia, Reggie.”

She offered her hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you.” As both men sat, she studied this new man.

“So, Aaron, I heard about Haley, I’m so sorry.”

“You heard?” He tensed again.

Reggie shrugged. “It was on the news briefly and then online a bit more. And now you’re here, in my town. I’m not sure I ever thought the day would come, the way you were wrapped up in Haley like you were.” His eyes cut to the curvy blonde. “But you brought your friend.”

“We’re here working, actually. Penelope and I work together.”

“Ah, so single then.”

Hotch nodded.

“Good.” He started to speak again, but Hotch’s order was called and the pair rose, bidding him farewell before watching them leave. To himself as he watched them climb into the black SUV, Reggie muttered. “Very, very good, Aaron. Very, very good.”

==

On the ride back to the precinct, Garcia decided it was as good a time as any to get curious. “So…. who is Reggie?”

“Huh? Oh. We met in law school. We were roommates for a year.”

“And?”

“And?” His brows bunched together.

“Come on, Hotch, there was more than that, I could tell from that little scene back there.”

“Reggie was, is, gay. He admitted as much to me one night while we were drinking and made a couple passes at me.”

“Oh. So, he still has a thing for you then?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so. He knew I was with Haley, knew I married her later. We agreed to never talk about it again.”

“Did you know he lived in L.A.?”

“No, I didn’t.”


	15. Drive Your Truck

Pulling up in front of the gray house, Aaron pushed the SUV into park and cut the engine. He hated this, this remembering, but he had to do it. Not because someone else was expecting him to, but because it made him feel, for a little while, closer to the other man.

Climbing out of his vehicle, he shrugged his jacket on. The old truck didn’t have the best heat anymore and the inside always felt a bit damp. Aaron made sure he locked up before carefully rounding the front and stepping up onto the curb. The grass and pavement were wet and covered in fallen leaves. He came often, but this time of year, with the leaves on the ground, it was when the memories were closest to the surface.

At the end of the front walk, Aaron looked up at the two-story house and tried to remember how his friend used to look, standing in the doorway smiling at him, welcoming him in. For the first couple years after, Aaron didn’t feel welcome here, but he’d come anyway. The third year, they’d found a way to begin the healing. Aaron had spent months combing every report the team had touched in the past decade and a half, had dug up every article and photo he could find and when he came up empty, he reached out to the others for what they had. He’d then sat in the living room of this home and watched as Savannah had unwrapped the gift. What amounted to a detailed diary of memories from the first day Aaron had met Morgan, to the last.

Savannah had wept, holding Hank and Charlie on her lap as they all looked through it at photos of a man who had been happy with life. A man who had loved his wife and son and would have loved his daughter, if he’d have known.

Finally taking the steps up to the porch, Aaron looked around at the children’s toys. It had been hell, having to walk up to this door and tell a wife, mother, that her husband and the father of her two-year-old son was dead. But it had been worse, days later, when she’d pulled him aside to share news that was somehow ever more heartbreaking.

The kids were a little older now. Aaron had to think a moment, seven and four or thereabouts. So, when he rang the bell, there were footsteps running to open the door. He smiled when two faces peered up at him through the screen. “Hey, guys.”

“Who is it?” He could hear Savannah call from somewhere in the house.

“It’s Uncle Aaron, Mama.” Hank shouted back before pushing the screen door open. “Come in. Mama is in the kitchen.”

“Thanks.”  Aaron stepped into the house, wiping his feet before searching out the person he was here to see. “Hey.”

Savannah leaned against the sink. “Hey.”

“How are you?”

“Good.” She looked out the window toward the garage. “You headed to see him?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been in a while. We were away over his birthday.”

She nodded. “The kids and I took flowers yesterday.” She met his gaze, brushing hair out of her eyes. “I took a few days off.”

“I only have today. I tried, I just…”

“Yeah.”

Neither of them said more out loud, they never did. Any other time and they managed just fine, but these days… They were both still hurting.

Letting himself out the back, Aaron opened the garage and climbed into Derek’s beat up old truck. Slowly starting the engine, he drew in a deep breath and let the memories wash over him.


End file.
